Shattered Lens
by Missy Kitty Cat
Summary: Three months pass, hope turned to pain and pain, eventually, into acceptance. A beloved tiny detective is thought to be gone, until he is found.
1. Found

_A/N: I'm back with a new story full of the usual angst, I hope, everyone had come to love about my fics. I've had a lot of help with this one from my awesome and best friend Crimson. Thank you! I hope to update other stories soon, when I get over the writer's block that has overcome me with them. Leave a review and enjoy! _

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Detective Conan that is why I write Fanfics.

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Shattered Lens 

**_Chapter one:_**_ Found _

**_By: Kat-Chan_**

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The brunette female trudged down a familiar path she always had taken home. A path she had walked many times with the small bespectacled boy whose presences was lacking from her side. It was so quiet and lonely without the bright child with her and there was no Shinichi to comfort her. Sonoko tried many times to cheer her up before she accepted things, but failed. The pain was still there, however lesser then when he had been reported missing and the search parties ended their searches after a month or so.

She had allowed acceptance to fill the hollowed out space in her heart. After all, three months had passed by now, there was no hope the little child was alive, though his body had yet to show up. Ran doubted his body would ever be found at this pace. Honestly, she didn't want it to be found. The young woman wanted that small hope, even if she had long since come to terms with things.

The sky, dark with rain clouds, held an ominous air of rain and storm. Neither Conan nor Shinichi would come to her rescue should it begin to rain as they often had so an umbrella lay in the pocket of her school bag just in case. Her hands clenched tighter around the handle, she missed them. Since Conan disappeared, she couldn't get in touch with Shinichi at all. Ran often wondered if they might have been the same person.

The situation would have made her suspicious if not for a different grief that might arise. Ran didn't want to think about the chance that both Conan and Shinichi were gone. Therefore any suspicion was tossed away and ignored. The young karate champion continued on her path home with out another though about Conan or Shinichi. Actually, it wasn't quite so easy.

Blue eyes came across a head of dark hair poking out behind a streetlight's pole half way along her path home. A tiny shoulder and arm draped in tattered blue cloth dropped limply into her sight. Curious and slightly worried, Ran went over to investigate and what she saw brought forth grief so strong her heart felt almost flooded over. A boy wearing a pair of glasses with shattered lenses lay against the pole. Then the rain fell.

"Conan!"

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Half asleep at the bed side of one frail looking child, Ran sat soothed by the beeping of the heart monitor that filled the silences of the hospital room. After many surgeries and a flush of all toxins they found in his body, she had finally been allowed to see him and had refused to leave his side since. She couldn't lose him again… Her sleepy gaze fixed onto his pale face, his breaths misting the clear, plastic mask over his nose and mouth. Who had done this to him? 

Leaning her torso onto the bed, she extended her arm out to brush his messy hair from his face. Her finger tips eventually brushed against the gauze wrapped around his forehead, her hand pulled away. There had been so many injuries inflicted upon his small body plus the one on his head. Conan had yet to awaken and tell what happened. The doctors hadn't an idea when he'd wake up either.

Ran would wait by his side until he woke up. She would wait with that same dedicated she had to Shinichi's return. And when he woke up, she'd never let him leave her side again and she vowed to protect him thereafter despite any protest on his part. "I promise…" The young brunette tucked her arms under her head, tilting it so she could still see his face. Sleep eventually closed her eyes and took her to the realm of dreams.

"The person that did this is twisted."

Ran lifted her head, awakened by the voice. Rubbing her blurry eyes, Ran glanced to where she heard the voice. She found her father, the Great Sleeping Kogoro, at her side with a look of concern on his face. His eyes were pulled away from the child, gazing warmly at his daughter. "I'll find who did this, Ran. I'll get them behind bars!"

"Thank you, Dad," She mumbled through a yawn.

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Though she promised the unconscious Conan she wouldn't leave his side until he awoke, doctors and school wouldn't allow it. Ran wanted to be there when he woke up and wanted to make sure that no one could take him away from her again. How she wished the doctors and her father had let her stay beside him. All she was allowed was a brief visit during the school days and a few hours during weekends. He still hadn't woken up yet either. 

There were many emotions stirred up when word got around that Conan was found. Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta, even Ai, were assaulting her with questions on how he was. Though Ai didn't really ask as many questions as the others nor did she seem to shed a tear in relief. Agasa was overjoyed and even the Kudos (who had remained in Japan since Conan's disappearance), as strange as she found it, were crying in delight. However, when they learn of the condition he was in, they grew rather upset.

"What kind of person does that to a child," Yukiko had said, tearing up just as others had. She took the news worse though. It was quite strange to witness; Yukiko reacted like it had been her child who had suffered Conan's fate. It made Ran wonder if Conan was really the woman's grandfather's older brother's daughter's cousin's uncle's grandson as she had claimed once. It was still no time for suspicions, however, so Ran never pondered the thought again.

All she cared about was that her surrogate little brother was alive and safe.


	2. Something wrong

_A/n: I am so very sorry I took to long to update. See my computer died and I lost everything so I had to restart on everything I wrote. It also took a while to get my computer fixed…Anyways; I hope this chapter makes up for the wait. I will be updating my other fics ASAP. Enjoy and review._

**Disclaimers:** I do not own Detective Conan.

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**_Shattered Lens_**

_**Chapter two:** Something wrong_

**_By: Kat-Chan_**

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During those long three months filled with worry, fear, and sorrow, Ran found it harder then anything she had ever endured. Not knowing what had happened to Conan was beyond any horrors she had ever faced. Nevertheless everyone eventually had to accept it, herself included, though it hollowed their hearts to admit to the possible death of the child… That was in the past now, Conan was alive and back in her life, however, his condition would prevent anyone from rejoicing. He looked like he had been horribly tortured and he wouldn't wake up…

He remained asleep for two days and it seemed like forever since she'd heard his voice or seen his bright, little smile. It would have meant the world to her to see his shining, blue eyes freed from beneath those eyelids of his. To be able to fell his hand clenching hers as she took him home, what a day it would be! It would make everything right in the world again. Besides the part about the sicko who had left him in such a state still on the loose.

Though her father being the great detective he was was on the case, he had found no solid leads. So far, at least. He was only on the case for two days without any suspects or evidence so it wasn't very surprising that he hadn't found anything. It still disappointed her, knowing that, that monster of a person was still free while her Conan-kun lay there in the hospital… He looked like a prisoner under all those tubes and machines.

Ran clutched the tiny child's hand wishing to feel his grasp back.

His hand, however, only remained limply squished in hers… Ran felt as through her world was crumbling again as it had when the tiny child went missing and when the searches ended. Would he sleep forever? Would she never see his smile again? Why was she feeling so hopeless, it had only been two days! "I need to keep my hopes up!" She announced determinedly.

He would wake up soon, just because he'd been sleeping for two days didn't mean he'd sleep forever. Her Conan-kun would be fine, he would wake up, see her by his side and smile. Then the world would feel right again and maybe Shinichi would give her a call too. Maybe he'd show up soon and take her and Conan out to dinner or something. Then he'd stay with her and wouldn't disappear like always…

"You'll wake up right?" Ran whispered.

Her fingertips gently caressed the rough gauze wrapped around his forehead, partly hidden beneath his dark hair. That gash on his forehead, she remembered how it drenched his face in blood that rainy night. It was one of his worse injuries; the doctors had to stitch it up. She knew it'd leave a scar… He even had some broken bones.

The worst of all was the traces of poison mixed in with the small amount of partially digested contents pumped from his stomach. The doctors, the police, and even her father had tried to hide that from her, but she had to know so she eavesdropped. After hearing it, she swore she'd throw up. Ran regretted it, she was better off not knowing… That monster needed to be arrested.

Her delicate touch moved from the bandages to his soft, hot cheek, the edge of his breathing mask guiding her fingers. Then unexpectedly his eyelids twitched and his grip tightened on her hand. After that brief moment, he was still again. She had been so surprised it took her a moment to really understand what had happened, He had reacted! Would he be awakening soon, Ran wondered.

Only time would tell.

That night when it was time for her to leave, Ran left the hospital feeling better then she ever had over those past three month, only a little though. Her surrogate little brother might have been waking up! He would be back in her arms someday soon or that is what she wanted to believe. Then once he woke up, she would never let him leave her sight and she would protect him like she should have. She wouldn't let him down again.

Barely two days later the criminal was caught. It was a Dr. Aizawa Yukio found in Conan's room late at night trying to erase the evidence. However the only evidence had been one Edogawa Conan. Dr. Aizawa was found strangling the unconscious child, screaming something in a fit of rage. With him behind bars Ran was able to sleep easier at night…

The next morning she read his confession in the paper. Apparently, he kidnapped the child after his divorce left him broke and in debt. He saw the child and next thing he knew he found himself taking the boy home with him. He was so angry and confused so he took it out on the child over that three month time frame. Then when he'd gone too far, he tried to erase the evidence, but Conan survived.

When he found the child alive and staying in the hospital that he worked at, he didn't know what to do. Dr. Aizawa fear that if the child woke up and revealed to the police who had kidnapped him, then everything would be destroyed further… So when the boy showed signs of response, he had to kill him once and for all. He again failed to erase his sin, claiming that child was too attached to living. Case closed, her father had said.

She still felt that something wasn't right about the confession. She wasn't a detective, though, she was a karate champion and mysteries weren't her thing. Ran was always proven wrong with the only mystery she ever tried to solve anyways, that mystery involving Conan and Shinichi. So she dropped her suspicious and let herself rejoice with everyone else who had been so hurt by Conan's disappearance and the state he had reappeared in. Her little Conan-kun was safe that as all that mattered.

The next day, Ran found herself, her father, Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, Genta, Ai, Professor Agasa, and the Kudos gathered outside Conan's hospital room. They all decided the night before to visit Conan in hope that he would wake up soon. Ran still didn't get why Shinichi's parents were there and not Conan's parents. She ignored any suspicious though. Maybe they were there because Conan's mother asked them to; they were relatives, right?

Ran and Mr. and Mrs. Kudo were the first to go in.

She was at his bedside the moment she entered, holding his hand firmly in hers like she always had during his sleep. The karate champion took a peak behind her, finding Shinichi's parent standing by the door still. It was almost like they didn't want to get to close and risk revealing something they were hiding. What would they have to hide? Ran shook away the though, turning her focus to Conan.

A smile lit her face as she stroked his hair with her free hand. That was until she saw the bruises around his neck left behind when Dr. Aizawa tried to strangle him… Tears welled up in her eyes. Why did he have to suffer like this? If only she had begged to stay the night, she didn't have school anyways; she would have been able to prevent this!

Why did she have to keep failing him? Why couldn't she protect him like she had promised…? Without really knowing what she was doing, Ran pulled the sleeping child into her embrace, sobbing loudly into his shoulder. Suddenly, his limp body stiffened in her arms. Then, in an instant, he began screaming and struggling to break her hold.

Utterly shocked, Ran let go and stared at the trembling child before her. Why was he so afraid? She reached out to him as he began trying to rip the breathing mask off his face. He saw her movement and screamed again, tumbling off the bed as he tried to get away. Ran pulled her hand close to her chest, gazing at him with a look of horror.

"Conan-kun?" She whimpered out when he began to throw up absolutely nothing.

Yukiko then tried to approach Conan, but he screamed even louder and tried to hide under the bed. Eventually the doctor came in and forced the three of them to leave. Yukiko begged to know why he was acting they way he was, while Yusaku remained silent… A few minutes later, a nurse ran into his room with a capped syringe. Shortly after Conan stopped screaming and the Doctor stepped out, whipping his sweaty brow.

"What's wrong with him?!" Yukiko demanded, suddenly.

"Well… He must have awakened when Aizawa was strangling him, but there is a possibility of memory loss perhaps a month or so after he went missing," He said, bowing his head after a quick glance at the departing nurse. "We had to sedate him so he wouldn't harm himself or anyone else in the state he is currently in…" He took a deep breath. "I think all of you should go home for now."

"I am not leaving," Ran spoke up, fixing the doctor with look full determination. She had vowed, when he woke up, to never let him leave her side and to protect him! He needed her now more than ever, too. So, she'd stay with him even if it meant staying in the hospital over night with him. "I'm going to stay by his side!"


	3. Memories

_A/N: Hey everyone! Well, this new chapter will be in Conan's point of view since I'm more comfortable with it. Hope it's enjoyable and worth the wait. Leave a review!_

**Disclaimers:** I do not own Detective Conan.

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_****_Shattered Lens_**

**_Chapter Three:_**_ Memories_

**_By: Kat-Chan_**

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Sobbing broke sleeps hold on his mind, rousing him swiftly to discover he was being constricted in some kind of smothered hold. A sudden image of a shadowed man, holding him tightly by the throat flashed across his vision enticing him into a fit of thrashing. He became oblivious to the sobs and the warm tears soaking through his hospital gown. Only one thought occupied his fearful mind, one important instinct built into every creature's DNA, he needed to get away from the danger. Even if, unknowingly, he wasn't really in any sort of peril.

When the hold released him, he fell to the bed with a jolting pain. Only then did he realize there was a strange mask over his mouth, things stuck in his arms, and something stuck on his one of his fingers. His reached for the mask first, trying to tear it from his face and succeeded, but a strange woman reached out to him and again a startling image flashed across his vision. He screamed, finding himself tumbling off the bed in the next moment. He suddenly felt dizzy and nauseous…

His stomach convulsed and he began retch, but there wasn't anything to throw up.

Then another strange woman reached out to him then yet another image flitted across his vision and he screamed again. They were trying to injure him was what went through his mind. His only memories were filled with torment and fear; these people were probably the same as those who had attacked him before… He needed to get away, to hide so when he turned his head and discovered he could squeeze under the bed, he attempted to. Someone grabbed him and held him down, though.

He thrashed around to get free, adrenaline pushing back the intense pain of his many injuries. Then he faintly felt something like a sharp pinch on his skin and suddenly he felt very tired. His struggling ended and he hazily watched those new strange people around him. He watched their lips move with no sound, then shake their heads and vanish from his view. He eventually gave into the sudden drowsiness that overcame him and allowed his eyelids to fall.

When he woke up the room was dark and there was a shadow leaning on the end of his bed, moving just a little bit, but definitely moving. His eyes widened and he felt his body begin to tremble and at that moment he was too terrified to move. The shadow moved more, it got bigger, and then he felt it staring at him. What did it want; did it want to hurt him or to kill him? "Conan-kun, you're awake! Are you okay?"

"Conan?" He spoke slowly, testing the name.

"Oh, right… The doctor said you may have lost your memories…" The shadow had been quiet for a while before it finally spoke. He stared for a long time at it, that talking shadow. He realized it was a woman by the voice and…the voice was familiar. He knew her, but she wasn't someone who harmed him, who was she? He stared at her silhouette, searching his memory for, what seemed like, many long moments to find out where he had met her.

There was a new sound and then a roar of static from a television, set close to the ceiling. The newly freed light allowed him to dimly glimpse the woman whose voice he heard, she was slightly turned towards the TV with a remote aimed at it. He recognized her from earlier, the one who reached out to him when he was panicking. Guilt flooded over him upon remembering her expression that time, she wasn't trying to attack him was she? The kind voiced woman was trying to calm him, wasn't she?

"I'm Mouri Ran," She said, turning her gaze on him once muting the TV.

"I'm sorry…" The confused boy whimpered, staring down at the thin sheets draped over him. When he heard the chair she sat in creak, his eyes shot up quick enough to watch as she reached out to him. Conan flinched away when her fingers brushed across his cheek where tears had begun to spill over. She must have noticed the flinch for she drew her hand away causing the guilt that bubbled up grow with more intensity. Something deep inside him wanted to see a smile on her lips instead of that concern.

Therefore, despite the fear protesting the action, he got to his knees and crawled over to the woman named Ran. When he was close enough, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug ignoring the discomfort it caused him. She, ultimately, wrapped him in her own embrace, which cause him to panic. It took all he had to prevent himself from attempting to struggle free; however, she soon let him go much to his relief. "I'm sorry…" It was her to turn apologize now.

The fear triggered adrenaline that had been pulsing through his veins since he awoke had begun to fade and the pain of his injuries was allowed to surface. His neck and throat begun to throb from the hand shaped bruises that deformed his skin. There were all kinds of aches throughout his tiny body, many he received before he lost his memory. With all of his new memories filled with only his suffering from his brutal, faceless captor, the absence of that violence seemed unreal. Also because he was so use to being hurt, Ran's kindness was new.

"Conan-kun, are you okay?" Ran asked when he released her from his embrace.

"Mmhm," He muttered as he raised his finger tips to the rough gauze wrapped around his forehead. As he performed that action, he realized that his arm was encased in a brace which made him stop the previous action to look at that limb. He felt the rough fabric of gauze on various spot where he knew his worst injuries were. It felt strange to have them bandaged after all the mistreatment his captor had given him. It, too, was something new and something very, very strange to him.

"Conan-kun?" He moved his gaze back to that woman catching sight of the concern that filled her soft blue eyes. Something like a fleeting memory came and went so quickly he didn't remember what is was about, however, one thing dawn on him; it was about her. That teenager girl, Mouri Ran, was someone who he cared about, but that was all he knew. He guessed that had been the reason he hugged her despite the panic it caused him! However, Conan didn't remember anything concerning her besides that so it didn't change anything.

"I'll be okay," He assured the worried young woman before him, but he knew his voice lack the conviction he would have liked. Nonetheless, she smiled at him despite tiny tears that sparkled in the corners of her eyes, crinkled by the extent of her curled lips. This expression, however, had been portrayed to him in malevolent context throughout his lacking memory. He would have been scared had it not been for the tears in her eyes and the genuine kindness that radiated from her. He felt something in the moment, another feeling he hadn't felt for a long time.

He felt safe with this woman and because of that feeling, when she reached out to him, he didn't flinch away. Conan, as he had been told was his name, allowed her to glide her gentle fingertip across his bandages forehead and along his battered face. The tiny child allowed her to ruffle his hair as the end of her felt examination of his wounded face. Her tears were more obvious now as they were streaming down her cheeks, but her face was contoured in a big grin. She didn't speak after that, she just hugged him and he hugged her back and the two of them stayed like that until sleep overtook them both.


	4. Mom?

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A/N: Wow, it's been a while. . . Anyways, I'm back with an update~! Yay!! Read and enjoy, maybe even you all could leave me a review? -shakes review cup- Anyways, let's get this fic started!

**Disclaimers:** I do not own Detective Conan.

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Shattered Lens

**Chapter four:** _Mom? _

**By: Kat-Chan**

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When the sun rose that morning, streaming the hospital room with its yellowed brilliance, Conan awoke to a steady warmth, a warmth not only from the body embracing him, but from her perfumed breaths exhaling into his face. His eyes opened only to be blinded for a moment by the light, something he hadn't seen in so long. When his eyes adjusted, he gazed at the gentle face before him, radiant with bliss. He wasn't sure if he had ever seen such an expression before, not that he could remember, anyways. Everything was new to him in this world of light and kindness. . .

Nothing compared to that world of darkness and cruelty.

He had suffered so much during those endless day he spent in that dark place, enduring the torment that those faceless people forced upon him. There seemed to be no end to it, none at all, and the days dragged on and on, so many passing by that he lost count. All of his memories were filled by those days, nothing else, so this unreal place he was now in seemed as if it was just another dream like the many others that haunted his nights, dreams he couldn't remember when he woke up. However, this wasn't just another dream, it was real. Wasn't it…?

The battered boy wiggled an arm free, well, he wiggled free the one arm that wasn't braced and reached up towards the soft, pale face snuggled close to his own. He jabbed his fingertip at the smooth skin to assure himself that the merciful angel who was embracing him so protectively was actually real. At he finished poking at her face, however, her eyelashes parted to reveal the gentle blue irises once hidden beneath. They opened wide, then softened as a smile curved on her coral lips. "Good morning, Conan-kun," She replied, voice still soft from sleep.

"G-Good morning, Mouri-san. . ." The small boy stuttered, assured now that this was definitely not a dream, no, this was reality. Now that it had been confirmed for him, he felt a fresh wave of discomfort as he realized how she, being much bigger than him, had him completely imprisoned beneath her torso. The closeness was to much for him to take no matter how safe he felt around her, so, Conan looked at Ran, a little nervously, and with a pleading voice he said; "Uhhh. . . Could you get off of me? T- This is too much for me. . ."

"Oh! Right! I'm sorry, Conan-kun," Ran replied, sitting up. "And, Ran-neechan, can you call me that?"

"O- Okay," He stuttered, blinking his wide eyes in confusion. It made sense to him since he assumed that he was fairly close to her, not only because she was at the hospital by his side, but also from the feeling he had like memories of her nagged as his subconscious beyond his reach. What had struck him was the way she had asked it as if it wasn't really meant as a request, but a demand. There wasn't any room for a 'No', only an agreement would do for the woman before him. Either way, he wasn't really going to argue with her on this.

"How are you feeling?" Ran asked, however, before he could speak there was a noise from nearby, the sound of a door opening and then shutting. He was sure of it. That was a sound he was very familiar to, a sound that made him freeze up in terror, anticipating the absolute worse! His heart had instantly begun to throb heavily against his ribcage and his throat seemed to tighten, making it nearly impossible to breath. The footsteps that followed seemed to echo in his ear unnaturally loud and seemed to dragged on. . . "Conan-kun?"

He stared off towards the sound with eyes widened, seemingly, beyond their natural limits, unable to focus on Ran's worried and pleading voice as she questioned him on his status, but how could he? What if one of those horrible, faceless monsters were coming to take him back to that hell? He didn't want to go back, not after seeing this world, a world that seemed more like heaven than anything else. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the person who had been come into his hospital room came into view. It was no who he expected at all!

"Ran-chan!" The cheerful, almost childish voice rang out once the light brown haired woman with a distinctive hairstyle arrived. Her eyes darted toward him momentarily, but were soon focused on Ran once more as if she couldn't bare to look at him and he knew exactly why. She had been in the room the following day, the one who had approached him after Ran did, the one whom he had screamed the loudest for. . . He must have known her too, but he couldn't put his finger on it, however, that didn't mean he wasn't starting to feel guilty all over again.

As he stared at her, Ran and the woman were conversing amongst themselves, but, every so often, she would glancing his way and her eyes would begin to water so she'd look back at Ran. Either Ran didn't notice this or she just didn't was to say anything, whatever the reason, it was really starting to bother him, but before he could voice this something happened. Something flashed before his eyes, a memory he guessed, but he couldn't grasp it. Except for one word and a face. That woman's face had stood out in his memory and that word was meant for her. . .

"Mom," Conan whispered, glancing down into his lap.

"What did you say Conan-kun?" Ran asked, curiosity apparent in her voice. The boy shifted his focus away from his fidgeting fingers and back to the faces of the two women nearby, but he focused solely on the newcomer. The woman whose name he couldn't remember, but he knew without a doubt that she was the one who gave birth to him, she was his mother! From the shock in her eyes, he guessed she had heard, but did not expect to hear him say that. He smiled, finding some kind of joy from the fact that even though he couldn't recall his memories of her, he still knew who his mother way!

"Mom," He repeated, pointing at his mother. "You're my mom, right?"

"Conan-kun, Mrs. Kudo is a relative, but she isn't your mom," Ran said, looking from Conan to the other with obvious confusion, but there was something else; there was suspicion. Why was she suspicious of? He couldn't be sure, but it had something to do with '' being his mother, she must have tried to pass herself off as not being his parent for some odd reason, though he could figure out why. This wasn't the time to be hiding anything, however, since the young child was sure that he would be better off with his mother around. "Why do you think she's your mom?"

"Because she is! I don't think a kid could mistaken their mom for another person," Conan growled, wondering why she wasn't confirming his claims. From the way her eyes had began to shine with held back tear, the boy was sure that the reason was because she knew her son didn't remember her and it hurt her to see him staring at her like some stranger. It had to be! It was the one thing he could really, truly remember even without memories of that person. He remembered the unbreakable bond mother and child had since before their birth. "Right? You are my mom?"

"Mrs. Kudo, Is that true?" The adolescent woman asked, looking expectantly at her along with Conan.


End file.
